Everybody Loves Me
by PhantomPotterGirl
Summary: James Potter-Perfection. To Lily Evans...not so much. -Just a small drabble before the massive James/Lily/Snape fight. Lily/James pre-romance. Fifth Year.


**A/N: **Hello people! I'm sorry that I haven't written anything for a while. I completely forgot to post that I was going to Thailand last week with my school (IT WAS AWESOME BY THE WAY :D) and that I didn't have any Internet :P So yeah-I've been writing this and re-editing this for while now. I really like how this turned out, mind you people that this is in _Fifth Year_. This is just _before _the James/Lily/Snape fight after the OWLs. I love OneRepublic, which is lovely since the song _Everybody Loves Me _was inspiring me through this oneshot. It is the reason why I wrote this anyway :D

Disclaimer: I don't own -.-

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><p><strong>Everybody Loves Me<strong>

**by: PhantomPotterGirl**

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><p>James Potter was not known to care.<p>

He was exceedingly smart, surpassing many other students of his own age—give or take a few. He excelled in sports, becoming notoriously famous in a short amount of time, his Quidditch skills completely overachieving the normal capacity of an ordinary twelve-year-old. He was wealthy, living up to his parents' name. The Potters were a highly noted Pureblood family. No one dared to question his place. He was popular, getting the attention of every single girl (with _one _exception) in Hogwarts.

He had been:

a) Backed against the wall,

b) Cornered

c) Groped

d) And endlessly stalked by these hormone-driven females.

And as much as he hated being caught with some random girl shoving her tongue down his throat—he wouldn't really mind getting caught, if _Evans _was the one who did.

But there was a caution about this.

Evans hated his guts. And James liked to chase girls, just for the thrill of it.

But he never _used _them. He grew up in a world were morals and manners were _noticed_. Where if you did the wrong thing—you had to fix it, in the best possible way you could. He grew up with the knowledge that he had to be the hero. And this, furthermore, stopped James from just literally dumping the girls onto the floor and shattering their hearts with a single blow.

Shame to say he never showed this compassion around others.

But to say at the least—James Potter was perfection. He was envied, wanted and completely, utterly—was everything everyone else, ordinary _wanted _to be.

And did he know it.

It was no question that all of the Hogwarts Population was madly in love with the boy. Him and his gang of, as we say it, _misfits_, fit perfectly well together—and ruled the school through seemingly harmless pranks and basking in the glory of being smart whenever they wanted to be. James Potter, for no doubt, knew this. And throughout the short four years of his high school life at Hogwarts, had he let his head become so enlarged by the fact he was so loved by his materialistic peers; he could no longer care for the feelings of others; except for of course, his best mates.

His best mates, par say also never really tried to stop him. Sirius Black, a cheeky-looking boy with exceedingly dark features and a stark for boldness, always encouraged James into being more self-absorbed (and stick his head further up his arse). For he also, was another player; just without the morals holding him down. And spent more than half of his time being caught with other slags belonging to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff; which never really helped James anyway.

Remus Lupin, however, was a completely different story. A dirty sandy-blonde haired boy with a quirky but sensible attitude and a calm-demeanour; was someone who no one at first would ever think to belong to the Marauders. He was too sensible, too good and at first, too shy to ever _think _of breaking the rules. But when come the time, they would realize that this boy was after all, the genius behind the pranks and with a sarcastically dry sense of humour to add on. Remus Lupin was might have the best of both personalities, but he was too sensitive. He believed in letting people try to solve their own problems until they got so screwed up, he had no choice _but _to interfere.

But Remus knew that the cause of James Potter was too far gone to even think about trying.

Peter Pettigrew—the final Marauder, was one of the unlucky ones. He, like Remus, at first would never look as if he was mischievous. He was too shy. He was too obedient. He was short, mousy with a shy and nervous aura that never really got him anywhere. He didn't do badly in his classes—but he wasn't quite the genius like Remus or James or Siruis. He was loyal. And friendly—making many questions rise on why he wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff. But he was there for a reason. And this reason included for his amazing ability to sneak away without making a _least _a squeak. And that he was absolutely brilliant at being a friend and creating excuses in getting the infamous four out of trouble; but he wasn't all that great. He wouldn't dare to try interfering with James, Siruis or Remus (although, when things did get way out of hand, Peter did tend to act out of character), he idolized them. And then, was no help to James at all.

These four were nicknamed, the Marauders: a gang of teenage boys with a complicated web of secrets and history. An undying trust; and a streak for mischievous acts.

But sadly, we are not here to talk about the Marauders. Our story begins with the one and only—James Potter. And how he successfully managed to (through _many _pathetically failed attempts) marry his archenemy (through _her _eyes nonetheless), Lily Evans.

Although I will not be dwelling into the story too much, I would love to write about the moment that James Potter realized that Lily Evans was the only one for him. And that no matter how much he persisted; he would never get her to fall in love with him—as he has fallen for her. You see, through Lily Evan's eyes, that moment was insignificant. It was just another day of her strange life, and she never thought about that moment ever again—until a few years after.

It all started on a normal sunny afternoon. It was a Monday, the classes were out and everybody was cheerful; bathing in the beautifully hot weather of that morning. James Potter was incredibly excited, he for one hadn't seen his beloved Lily Evans all day (she does tend to avoid him rather well, but he was brilliant at Seeking; even though he played the Chaser position) and the anxious building up of that momentum was skitterish in his stomach. He loved provoking Lily; he profoundly loved how beautiful she looked when she was angry.

Sad to say it turned him on.

His friends, rather—didn't talk to him for days after that uncomfortable development was discovered.

Anyways, James (after sneaking a cheating look at the Marauder's Map) was heading down to the Black Lake, where he knew that Lily was enjoying the day with one of her best friends, Marlene McKinnon. And on his way down, he stumbled over his thoughts about how he should introduce himself. No matter how much he tried to sound nonchalant, it always was a nerve-wracking experience whenever he saw her, or wanted to talk to her. Like he was a small Drama-stage performer; about to compete with those Big-boy movie actors.

He passed through several people who in turn, clapped him on the back or congratulated him heartedly. There had been a Gryffindor match against Ravenclaw a few days earlier, and Ravenclaw were slaughtered—the party was quite rowdy that night, including his friends completely pastured on the floor drunk. Suffice to say that Siruis had _much _more fun the night before, getting a lot of action in some broom cupboards. The Gryffindor girls _were _brutally enthusiastic after any successful Gryffindor match.

James felt like a king—being the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team has great perks. Everyone loved him—and was profoundly jealous of his plays. They could never understand how a misfit like _him _could be such a brilliant Captain.

As James set foot outside, the radiant sunshine smiled upon him as if telling him something spectacular was about to happen that day. His eyes lightened and the tensions of all the pain and suffering from the outside world melted away, he felt lighter—dizzy almost. James was a about a few feet outside, and he passed a rather large cluster of girls giggling and gossiping. It was needless to say that when he glanced at them, they burst out into shrilly laughter. Then proceeded to eye him like a piece of rare meat.

James was known as one of the mega-famous players of Hogwarts. The other, was Siruis—but James, in some eyes, was a much rather shag-worthy quality. He never passed through a day of Hogwarts without some girl from any year flirting with him or giving him invitations to Hogsmeade or other House parties (he preferred the Gryffindor ones, Ravenclaws were bloody snores at parties, Hufflepuffs were too moralistic to go further and Slytherins, _thank god _he's never been to one. It would probably be all about which person should next suffer their '_Death glare'_).

He didn't mind being eyed like a piece of meat; he got his own back anyway—by dumping them like one.

Today, one particular girl in that crowd stood out from the rest. She wasn't giggling like the rest, but she did have this interested gleam in her eye. He looked over her; she was pretty—with willowy features and straight silky brown hair pulled into an elegant braid. She was fit too. With brilliant light blue eyes, she looked like a goddess. _Yes_, James thought, _she'd be excellent for a one-night stand_. The thought of Lily Evans flew completely from his mind—except for the fact he hoped that she would be jealous.

His interest spiked and strutted towards her, keeping a mischievous smirk on his lips. As he neared, the girls started getting more excited. Jumping over one another and arguing at who he was looking at. As he approached his target, they parted like the sea. Some of the shrilly-laughing girls glared at the one he was staring at, fiercely. As if she hoped that the girl would choke on her own spit right then and there and fall down motionless. He held her gaze, she looked nervous but confident.

Just the way he liked it.

"So—I've never seen you around much, where've you been?" he smiled good-naturally at her.

"Hiding from you." She smirked back.

"Oh, really? Couldn't resist the fact that I exist?" he bantered.

"Of course not, I've heard of your infamous reputation towards women James Potter. I know exactly what you're doing."

She was a fiery flirter. He liked her, maybe he'll keep her for a few days...

"Assumptions, assumptions...didn't you ever learn that gossip is always a load of rubbish? For all you know—I might actually be a nice guy that was warped into a messed up reputation because of my overly jealous exes."

"_If_ you are a nice guy" she fired back.

"Want to find out?"

James had his hands deep in his pockets, an air of confidence surrounding him. The girl however, had her hands rested on her hips—a challenger. He liked those, but only until the night was over. Some of them became seriously clingy, and James Potter never liked clingy girls. They ruined the mood. They always would.

The girl opened her mouth to retaliate, but she was largely interrupted when another melodious and irritated voice, cut her from speaking.

"Honestly Mary, does it take _that long _to catch up on some gossip that we'd hear about tomorrow? Marlene and I have been waiting for _ages_."

Both fifth-years snapped their heads to the speaker. One in apology and the other—in some people might say: _adoration_.

There standing in front of the two with an annoyed look on her face was a natural beauty. She had brilliant red hair that shimmered in the sun, bottle-glass green eyes that gave away every emotion and a splash of adorable freckles across her nose. It was no one other than the one and only—Lily Evans.

James Potter, at this moment, felt his heart skip a little faster and his hand automatically reach towards his hair. He felt at a loss of words at her presence, his eyes sparkling with an emotion, foreign at the time, to him. Nevertheless, everyone at Hogwarts knew the complicated history between James Potter and Lily Evans. James, sadly, always seemed to stick his foot into his mouth whenever around her presence. And she viewed him as shallow, egotistical and nothing more. He's been trying to get her attention for years, and he has—but not in the way he wanted to.

"All right, Evans?" James smirked, his mind completely forgetting Mary's existence.

"Sod off, Potter." She glared at him before turning back to her friend, "come on Mary, Marlene's threatening to throw her scarf into the Lake again—and you _know _how much she'll whinge about it later and ask us to get it."

Mary looked confused, as if she'd just realized how long she's kept her friend's waiting. But she was in the middle of accepting James' Potter's request for a date—and she knew how much Lily hated him. What would she say if Mary accepted the offer right then? And she didn't want to leave Potter, making him think he'd been rejected. He'd be off to another girl in an instant! She glanced at Potter, who in turn wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were fixedly stuck on Lily, who was stubbornly staring at Mary, knowing that his gaze was on her.

"Hey Evans, how's about Hogsmeade next weekend. You and me?" James fired automatically.

Mary, feeling dejected and hurt cast her eyes down. "Sure Lily." She muttered before starting off towards the base of the tree where her blonde friend, Marlene McKinnon, was looking angsty and holding a piece of cloth high over her head. She was right about to chuck it into the Lake, before Mary's hand stopped her from going any further.

Lily looked at Mary with a sad frown on her face. Suddenly remembering who was in front of her, her glare snapped back. "Really Potter?" her accusing glare pierced through him.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Ask Mary out and then completely reject her when I show up?" Disbelief coloured her tone.

"And?"

"How could you be so heartless? She was all in for going out with you! Sure I wouldn't approve on the choice but—really?" she left rage bubble up inside of her. A year's full of angry tension poured out from her mouth before she could stop. He just—_infuriated _her so much! And no matter how many bloody times she's told him, _he'd never listen_. What on earth would get the bloody boy to grow a pair of ears and _listen _for once?

"Strutting around the school acting as if you're God's given blessing, _Merlin_, I for one would _know _that no girl would ever want to go out with someone as cruel and egotistical as you Potter! _You disgust me_." She spat before marching off towards her friends.

James stood there in silence, staring at her retreating back—wondering, for the first time ever since he started going for Lily, about what she was talking about. He couldn't really be that awful...It was absolutely preposterous, he didn't _act _like that. He thought back at all the previous times she had blown up at him, the odds of his argument weren't looking all that convincing. But _surely_, he couldn't be that bad!

Could he?

James shrugged it off, of course not. He was James Potter. Everybody liked him; Evans was only denying her feelings. But she'll come around. Everyone does eventually (Slytherins excluded). And although James reassured himself a billion times of this throughout his entire day, not even when he was in his bed later that evening, did that clenching contraction in his stomach leave—hinting that, for once, Evans was right.

That she didn't like him.

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><p><strong>AN: **Hope you guys liked it! Please review! :D

Luvs PhantomPotterGirl


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